George Kusche completed what has been a fantastic year of running by winning the 50th Comrades Marathon Up Run from Durban to the KwaZulu-Natal capital at the first attempt in a record-smashing time of 5:16:06.
His time was an incredible eight minutes faster than the 5:24:49 Leonid Shvetsov ran way back in 2008. Such was the frenetic pace of the race that all top five runners dipped under Shvetsov’s old record.
But it was Kushce who was smiling all the way to the bank, guaranteed to swell his balance by a little over R2 million, with additional bonuses for the record, being the first South African home as well as the best average paid added to the R925 000 winner’s prize.
The Pretoria athlete made his debut in the Ultimate Human Race in last year’s Down Run and just missed out on the gold medal with a 12th place finish.
Inspired by the impressive showing, the Nedbank Running Club runner got down to work. He clocked up not only the mileage but some decisive victories that gave him the confidence he could take on the big one.
The 27-year-old had a stellar build-up to the Comrades, racking up various victories to send a warning to his competitors. Kusche took the lead at the start of Little Pollys as Maxed Elite’s Mbuti Mollo struggled with cramps.
The lad from the Free State had been in the lead from his teammate Jobo Khotoane and Phantane AC’s Samuel Moloi and looked set to give the Mr Price Club their first victory in a long time.
Mollo hung on despite suffering cramps and finished in third place, behind defending Up Run champion Piet Wiersma. It was a fantastic running day for Nick Bester’s Nedbank Running Club as they dominated the top 10 finish.
Their foreign contingent of Alex Milne and Haruiki Okayama took fourth and fifth places respectively while local boy and debutant Lloyd Bosman, a former Two Oceans champion, came in seventh.
The glory belonged to Kusche though, the data scientist helping Nedbank Running Club continue their long dominance of the men’s race.
The Green machine have been winning the race since 2019, with Edward Mothibi, now with Hollywood Athletics Club and finishing just out of the gold medal positions, winning it then.
Post the Covid-induced cancellation of the race in 2020 and 2021, the title was won by Nedbank. Tete Dijana, now also with Holloywood, was victorious in all the Down Runs 2022, 2023 and 2025 while Wiersma reigned victorious in the Up Run two years ago.
Gerda Steyn’s reign continued unabated as she won a fifth title by breaking her own Up Run record with a 5:44:33 run ahead of Entsika Athletic Club’s Nobukhosi Tshuma (5:53:36). Irvette van Zyl, realising her goal of a podium finish, came in third (6:02:30).
- George Kusche won the 50th Comrades Marathon Up Run on his first attempt, setting a new record time of 5:16:06, beating the previous record by eight minutes.
- Kusche earned over R2 million, including the winner’s prize of R925,000, bonuses for the record, being the first South African, and best average paid.
- The race saw a historic performance with the top five runners all finishing faster than the previous 2008 record.
- Kusche, a 27-year-old Pretoria data scientist and Nedbank Running Club athlete, showed strong form leading up to the race with multiple victories.
- Gerda Steyn continued her dominance by winning her fifth women’s title, breaking her own Up Run record with a time of 5:44:33.
